The copending application identified above pertains to improvements in domes and similar structures useful for enclosing or covering a desired space. Such domes can be used as the principal aspect of a space-enclosing structure, or they can be used as components of a larger structure. Such domes can be transparent and, in such form, can be used to enclose botanical gardens, as aviaries, and as skylights, among other uses.
Where domes according to the copending application, or according to other design philosophies, are provided as transparent space enclosures, a need exists for efficient and effective ways to mount transparent glass or plastic panels to the dome framework, which usually is defined as an open metal framework skinned or closed by the transparent panels. An effective mounting arrangement should hold the panels in place in a weathertight manner and in a mechanically secure manner so that the mounting does not leak and the panels cannot come loose in unintended ways. An effective mounting also should be accommodating of differences in thermal coefficients of expansion of the elements being interconnected. An efficient mounting arrangement should be quick, easy and safe to use and involve uncomplicated structures and procedures. An efficient mounting arrangement also should have long life and minimum maintenance requirements.
My prior U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,909,994 and 3,916,589 illustrate and describe arrangements for mounting glazing panels to supporting members. Those arrangements are effective and efficient according to the criteria reviewed above. However, they both involve structures which project outwardly of the mounted glazing panels. Those projections provide edges along which dust and the like can collect so that, when rain falls on the exterior of the assembled mounting, streaks can be produced across the outer surface of the structure. Such streaks are aesthetically undesirable; their elimination requires periodic washing of the structure, and that requirement detracts from long-term economic efficiency of the mounting.